Category Archives: Episode Writeup

Monogatari S2 – Episode 3

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Welp, we’re two episodes in and so far the show has basically established “Senjougahara feels weird, conflicted, and somewhat defensive about her relationship with Hanekawa,” “Hanekawa has a justifiably warped perspective on self-worth” and “the tiger has somehow imprinted on Hanekawa, which seems to be a bad thing and might be related to her house burning down.” For a Monogatari series, that’s a pretty solid list! I really liked how the end of last week’s episode brought Black Hanekawa and Senjougahara into direct contact, and I’m hoping we see more intermingling of the spirit conflict and personal conflict going forward. And we’re off!

Episode 3

0:35 – “You both help people, but it feels like you’re almost opposites. It feels like Araragi is a fake, and you’re the real thing.” Oh god, are they going to bring up every theme of this series in the first minute? I don’t have all day, Monogatari

1:24 – “I’m sure the difference is the ‘grumbling the whole time’ part.” So… Araragi does what he’s supposed to because he feels obligated to, whereas that kind of distance doesn’t exist for Hanekawa, and she just accepts all responsibilities and burdens as the only way her life could be?

1:48 – “If you’re a good person, people will exploit you. That’s why Araragi pretends to be a bad person.” Shades of Karen Bee here as well. Every single theme indeed

2:19 – “You don’t feel anything about the ill will people have. You accept them as they are. You’re too pure white.” I always got the feeling that Hanekawa just expects people to continuously disappoint her, and that her light and dark sides were much more closely linked than Senjougahara is proposing here

3:00 – “You will fail in the wild.” Or pour all your negative feelings into some unhealthy release valve. Senjougahara is right here – she needs to embrace both sides of herself simultaneously

3:12 – That feeling when it’s super hard to rewind and pause to catch all the single-frame text in this stupid simulcast but the text ends up being irrelevant anyway

3:57 – Their skirt lengths are indicative of their personalities. I’ve noticed other shows do this too. I don’t know if this is actually something you get to choose, or just used as easy visual shorthand in anime

4:21 – And Araragi once again relies on Kanbaru when he actually needs an assistant for one of his adventures. Is this because she has the most in common with him? Because he knows she’ll look after herself? Because their relationship is the least fraught with weird tension? Actually, yeah, that’s probably it – aside from maybe Hachikuji, she’s probably the person he shares the most normal friendship with in the series.

5:00 – They’re very strongly casting this conversation from Kanbaru’s perspective. Look at this shot progression. It makes me feel like she’s “sizing Hanekawa up,” and basically pushing on her conversational comfort level in the same way Senjougahara was in the last couple episodes

5:56 – “It’s unreasonable for me to be mulling over him asking Kanbaru for help” (instead of me). And once again she pushes down her justifiable negative emotions

6:27 – “To think Araragi would seek that wench’s help over mine.” And of course Senjougahara has zero issues admitting this pisses her off

7:21 – “You won’t go? Then I won’t either.” Damned if she’s gonna let Hanekawa be more mature about this than she is. Not that competing with Hanekawa for maturity points is particularly mature

9:11 – “What a coincidence, running into you at your house like this. Did you know Hanekawa’s house burned down? Of course you did.” Senjougahara sure is a subtle one. I’m actually liking her character a lot more in this series – her strengths and weaknesses are more accurately portrayed when Araragi isn’t around

9:30 – “She has no place to sleep tonight.” Oh god, there’s gonna be another bad one, isn’t there? Keep it in your goddamn pants, Isin

10:09 – “NOT LIKE YOU CAN HELP OR ANYTHING.” This is the best face 

10:55 – “So I’m now at the Araragi residence.” I am extraordinarily apprehensive at the moment. I mean, this is a fine plot development in the abstract, but… just…

12:09 – “Oh, don’t worry about talking to our parents. They too have a passion for justice.” Goddamnit the fire sisters are ridiculous.

12:44 – That’s a lot of clothes in that hamper. Oh god

14:33 – Whew. That actually worked. It wasn’t hammered as a sex joke like the shower scene was – it was a generally neutral and honest conversation (in fact, more honest than most of the conversations in this series), played much in the same way as the Shinobu/Araragi bath scene from Nisemonogatari. Thank you, Shinbou

16:08 – And now these two get a real conversation? Man, for all that “Araragi best MC” nonsense, this show sure does get interesting when he isn’t around. I love the composition of that shot, by the way

17:55 – “I guess the difference between the you before and the current you is like the difference between Terminator and Terminator 2.” That’s… surprisingly accurate

17:59 – The cat absentmindedly bats at the piece of string as it talks. These guys must think they’re pretty clever

19:50 – “We’re the same? That puts me at ease, but also puts a heavy burden on my heart.” So is she just relearning the forgotten lessons of Neko Kuro? I figured that movie pretty definitely stated “Black Hanekawa” was just a convenient way for Hanekawa to set aside the elements of herself she found painful or inconvenient

22:44 – Now that’s an iconic image 

And Done

And Monogatari meanders forward in its own way. A few things I liked in this episode – seeing the relationship between Hanekawa and Kanbaru, the way this arc continues to very frankly humanize Senjougahara, and particularly the meeting between Vampire and Cat. There were a bunch of beautiful shots in that last act, and we learned that Hanekawa’s tiger is basically an unknown apparition, meaning it might be something self-generated or fake (for whatever that’s worth in this series). I have to admit I’d gotten pretty attached to that old run-down building, and I’m guessing things will be coming to a head shortly. I’m eager to see how the potential revelation of whatever Araragi’s been up to will reflect off Hanekawa’s tiger – there’s obviously the possibility that Hanekawa’s link with the tiger is responsible for the destruction of both her own home and the old building, which would make the next target Senjougahara’s house. Tense stuff!

Gatchaman Crowds – Episode 2

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That first episode was pretty great, right? Definitely my surprise gem of the season. The visual design was great and the music was fantastically campy, but Hajime definitely sold it for me – I normally have trouble taking this kind of show seriously unless it really sells itself in some specific way, so having a protagonist who feels pretty much the same way as me (“Oh jeez, I’ve entered a very silly anime! Let’s screw around!”) is quite the breath of fresh air. I don’t know if her irreverent energy will stay as endearing if the show begins to try harder to take itself seriously, and I don’t know how the show would go about not ever becoming more focused on its actual story, but I am as always here as a student myself. Teach me, Gatchaman. Teach me your ways.

Episode 2

0:32 – “Ballets Pastelle!” Is she just making up these names as she goes along? Of course she is

1:20 – “So this is how you respond? That’s kinda different…” Genre savviness is a pretty great secret weapon

1:46 – Forgot how great this OP was

4:46 – “Oh, I live here now.” And then they’re just having dinner. This show certainly doesn’t waste time setting stuff up in a way that would make any kind of sense!

5:56 – “Maybe she was having a really tough time.” “No, it’s because she didn’t value her life.” They’re really hammering the difference between her relative and his hardline morality. I smell a theme!

8:19 – And they allude to but don’t fully explain some “disaster” while actually making the scene about elaborating the guy’s character. I didn’t expect subtlety here!

8:27 – “Yeah, I’m great. I fought a monster!” Pff, secret identities? Who’s got the time for that?

9:51 – “Senpai, let’s make collages!” It’s like a show from the actual perspective of a manic pixie dream girl. Pretty surreal, given anime’s usual female-character fantasies

9:56 – “Isn’t your sword pretty?” He is floored by how pretty it is.  Again, it seems like this show is just fast-forwarding through setup and character elaboration that normal shows would linger on for full episodes (establishing the world, getting her to the apartment, creating a dynamic between these two, pushing his development via her enthusiasm). I am actually all in favor of this, since all this stuff is classic genre fare and they’re clearly trying to get to something

13:22 – Finally someone figures out Hajime’s actual game . How dare you insult our silly premise, Hajime!

13:58 – “Pai-pai, are you on Galax too?” And Hajime loses interest in their hero mission to return to her actual priority, social networking for her scrapbooking club

15:02 – “A manifestation of our soul – so that’s why our weapons are different! But why is it a sword for you, and scissors for me?” Yeah, I’m not used to seeing protagonists try and figure out their own visual motifs within the second episode. Loving this show

16:55 – “This place probably isn’t real, right? And we’re JJ’s employees, it’s not like he’d put us in danger. Welp, only one way to be sure! ”

19:30 – “I’m sure it’ll tell us where the missing people went!” Premise: defeated. Now to invite MESS-chan to the collage club…

20:55 – “We don’t need an ambulance. Galax is far more useful.” “The world has been updated. Plus fifty points!” They’re hinting at some pretty interesting ideas here regarding all that “gameification of real life” stuff the kids go on about. I wonder if they’ll go somewhere with it

21:42 – “Man, I’m starving!” as she throws the food, mirroring Hajime’s declaration in the first episode. And it looks like they’re immediately going somewhere with it

And Done

Holy shit, I think this show’s gonna be really good! It absolutely burned down the genre setup this episode, did a great deal of work further establishing the characters, and was just breathlessly paced throughout. The writing is also actually pretty high quality, revealed through the lightly written conversations that achieved both narrative and character purposes, the efficient, understated, and constant subversions of genre staples, and the various hints at a few actual thematic undercurrents. I particularly like how quick the show is to address its own ideas – things like her personality making her predisposed to not immediately believe in their mission, or the natural conflict between her and the guy’s personalities, aren’t just hinted at – they’re built over the episode and then brought to a boil, which fits with Hajime’s “this place probably isn’t real, so I’ll walk off a cliff to test that” philosophy. It’s still pretty breezy fare, but I’m both fine with that and no longer have trouble believing it could actually come together as a story. Surprise gem indeed.

Free! – Episode 3

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Well I guess it is time for this show that I am obviously not tsundere for. Seriously, I’m not tsundere for Free!, I’m just yandere for beer. There’s a difference.

Now that that’s cleared up, yeah, last episode was definitely better than the first one. It still wasn’t good, in the way that, you know, good[1] shows are good, but it was certainly entertaining. It also featured a “let’s clean the pool” montage, and went incredibly deep on Haru-chan being perhaps a little bit obsessive maybe. I really didn’t buy the whole “oooh, he hurt his friend’s feelings that one time five years ago, that’s why he gave up his sole passion!” plot development, but if I can look past the fact that this is basically K-On with abs, I can probably look past a few extra-maudlin plot beats. Plus this has the added advantage of not being Everything Wrong with the Anime Industry™, and instead being A Winking Subversion of Everything Wrong with the Anime Industry™.

Note: this is not an invitation to argue about K-On. I dislike[2]   K-On, you are all allowed to like[3]   K-On, let’s leave it at that. This is my derpy show, I get fast and loose on reactions, if you’re uncomfortable with the temperature I’d advise exiting the kitchen.

Alright, I think I’ve picked enough pointless fights for this intro. Let’s Swimming!

Episode 3

0:00 – I like how I’m downloading all these in 1080p just because. KyoAni I am addicted to your drawings

0:21 – Truly the moeist[4]  

0:54 – Yet also an untamed wild stallion[5]  

2:45 – Goddamnit this OP. Rin’s single tear. This pain in his heart can only be settled IN ONE WAY. GET SET RED GYAO

2:58 – “Oh, you know, just some light reading.[6]  ” COULD THIS BE A CLUE?

3:20 – “It was easy enough to guess.” Oh come on, do it. You know you want to.

3:25 – “Considering those recruiting posters in your bag…” C’mon, you’re deducing right now! DO IT!

3:30 – There it is[7]  . Yesss, glasses-pusher. Embrace your nature!

3:50 – That face nooo. KyoAni’s powers are frightening[8]  

5:41 – I like how they’re just going all-in[9]   on Haru being nuts for swimming. It’s nice to see a KyoAni protagonist who’s such a derp – although really, this again is just showing how much more this show is falling into their moe SoL lineage. For all my problems with those shows, they certainly have more democratic ensemble casts than Haruhi, Chuunibyou, or Hyouka did – there’s less of a clear protagonist here, since while Haru is the central character, he’s also probably the least reliable member of the group

6:19 – Yesss do it again the crowd loves it[10]  

6:42 – Jeez, did they think I wasn’t already enthralled[11]   by club recruiting or something? Give it a rest Free!, I’m not that easy. Push glasses or gtfo

7:19 – Alright, this actually is a parody, right?[12]   I mean, I’ve seen serious glasses-pushing[13]  , but this is on another level

8:06 – He’s insatiable![14]  

8:51 – “After all, humans evolved to live on land.” I see no faults in this argument

8:59 – They better keep making these[15]  

9:39 – She’s awesome[16]  . Her and Gou are both kind of one-note, but they’re making the most of it

9:48 – I noticed this with the train station pan too – what are they doing with these backgrounds?[17]   They look like painted sketches or something. It’s very nice

10:37 – “But factor in shifts in the pole’s center of gravity.” Of course. How could you be so stupid?

11:02 – “You’re too focused on the technical side.” That’s right, glasses. You gotta feel the heart of the pole!

Wait that came out wrong

11:43 – “It’s Kou.” This show keeps surprising me with its’ humor. I’m a big fan of this style, where they mix genuine love for such a cliched genre with plenty of subversion and winks (like the absurd pole-calculations). Gatchaman Crowds is doing something similar, though I think that show’s running with it a bit more successfully. You should all be watching Gatchaman Crowds, by the way. No, I will not stop using this platform to advertise all my season favorites

12:21 – “They all have girly names…” Rei knows those girly names ALL TOO WELL[18]  

12:58 – Someone hold him down[19]  Okay I’ll stop (no I won’t)

13:48 – ALL RANGE MODE[20]  

14:01 – Look I’m not the one doing it[21]  . And we’ve gone too far to stop

14:54 – “Oh, Rei-chan!” “You’re Haru-chan? Show me your beautiful body”

15:10 – Free seriously I need to sleep tonight[22]  

15:26 – I agree, this episode was[23]   getting kinda slow

16:41 – “You can use one of our spares.” Wuhoh, what a wacky misunderstanding! But seriously show me him naked. Leave the glasses

16:44 – They did and they did[24]  

18:18 – Ahahaha. Thank you for the doubletake KyoAni

20:40 – “Be free.” Hey, that’s the name of the show. And describes Haru’s power, and probably what Rin is trying to reach from whatever his megadark past is. Also, the soundtrack is often a little silly, but I really love the tracks they use for these low-key but climactic moments

21:09 – Once more for luck![25]  

21:29 – Am I supposed to be interpreting this some other[26]   way?

Well, whatever. I’m sure Nagisa will make a great dad

And Done

Alright, full disclosure: I’m actually having a ton of fun with this. Yeah it’s dumb, but it’s also funny. Yeah swimming is a hard thing to make look inspiring, but they’re doing their best. Yeah Rei-chan might be pregnant, but Nagisa is gonna take responsibility.

Anyway. I think that’s enough glasses-pushing for one night.

Ahahahahahaha[27]  

Hm[28]  

Okay see you next week.

Watamote – Episode 2

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Welp, I’m a day late, but that’s really Watamote’s fault for coming out at 2 AM on a Tuesday. Just like her, isn’t it? Anyway, I actually really liked the first episode of this, which surprised me – I normally don’t like cringe humor and I feel most anime comedies suck at pacing and, well, making jokes that are funny. This one doesn’t. It has great direction, which is a massively underappreciated and very necessary component of a comedy. It has semi-painful but always pretty sharp writing. It has a great voice actress nailing one of the most necessarily melodramatic roles out there. It’s got the goods. Is it gonna keep delivering?

That got a little weird. Sorry.

Episode 2

0:30 – “What are you crying for? You talked to a boy who wasn’t me!” See? Fuckin’ thirty seconds and we get a weird, creepy, delayed setup-punchline that plays off her personality and the weirdness of anime culture in general. If any comedy’s going to actually impress me…

1:47 – Oh man this OP. Keep raging Tomoko, you’re obviously a special snowflake. This show’s a lot less subtle in its MC-mockery than OreGairu was, but it’s a perfectly valid choice

4:28 – “The only thing I’ve gotten better at is pretending to wake up from pretending to sleep.” That is brutal.

5:54 – “I can’t believe they don’t see the appeal of hungry characters.” Not really much to actually talk about here – this show is just really funny

7:31 – “Sleeping with a guy during the day…” This show strikes a good balance between actually kinda tragic scenes and Tomoko being so ridiculous that you don’t really feel bad for her. Normally empathy’s pretty important in shows, but if the point of the show is to shit on the protagonist, that’s not necessarily a great idea

7:57 – “Manager, huh? I bet she likes someone on the team. Or she’s into buzz cuts.” Yeah, sorry, Tomoko, you’re no Hikki – you’re just a lonely asshole, not an occasionally insightful lonely asshole

9:26 – When I heard they were adapting this, I figured it’d be as cheap of a cash-in as possible, but this all lookspretty okay 

10:52 – “Happy people should just die!” “Talking about stupid crap all the time… don’t they have anything else to do?” Her turnaround on hypocrisy is like, what, three seconds? That truly is a remarkable lack of self-awareness

12:43 – “But his face says he has no experience with girls.” And your face says you have a lot of experience with meth. Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt, eh?

15:40 – Aw c’mon, don’t be coy with the damn picture! Damnit Watamote…

16:45 – “Do all girls smell this good?” Hah! Kind of a nice trick there – that’s normally the cliched line some harem self-insert would apply to one of his lust-object girls, but here they have our decidedly un-lust-object protagonist apply it to the standard anime girl who’s pretty much from a different species

19:09 – “Well, I haven’t played it in a while…” Things are going waaay too well here. What are they going to do to her?

22:15 – AHAHAHA, now the ED is just her alone listening to her fake yandere boyfriend? Beautiful

And Done

Well, at least the picture made her feel better, even if she is just a background character. Funny episode overall, too – I didn’t like it quite as much as the first (probably because I think she works best when she’s bouncing off her having-none-of-it brother), but it made me a lot more confident the show isn’t a one-trick pony, so that’s a relief. I still think the yandere boyfriend tape was the best gag of the episode, but there were plenty of nice lines throughout. Good times!

The World God Only Knows S3 – Episode 2

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Well, we’re in the story now, so hopefully the pacing levels out a bit. I have high hopes for this – TWGOK has always been based on a strong, cynical understanding of story structure, and now that it’s actually committing to its ownreal story, I’m eager to see where it goes.

Episode 2

0:50 – After two full seasons, it’s really gratifying to see the plot actually move in this thing. Kanon stabbed? Their teacher possibly involved in the spirit business? The plot thickens!

4:15 – “From here on, your information will dictate my choices.” It’s nice to see Keima’s Lelouch impression being applied to an actually serious situation.

8:05 – I like that as soon as the situation becomes actually serious, he sends Elsie off on a side mission and has Haqua act as his Watson instead. I mean, Elsie’s great and all, but…

9:33 – “How does Elsie normally act?” “Just like that. Keep floundering around.” Great translation choice

18:17 – This episode is fantastic! Fast-paced and full of the series’ greatest strength, the demented anime-character-psychology strategizing.

20:33 – Keima himself getting conquered? This is amazing. Now I’m kind of sad they skipped that particular arc

And Done

That was GREAT. Breakneck pacing, but that made sense given the context, and I love how they’re finally forcing Keima to actually commit to this situation. Having him juggle so many silly love stories highlighted the romcom-parodying nature of the series in a good way, and seeing Keima himself get kinda seduced was one of the best moments of the series so far. Fun times.

Uchouten Kazoku – Episode 2

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This season is shaping up nicely, and at the moment Uchouten Kazoku is its cornerstone. The first episode was unique, well-written, and extraordinarily sharply directed and animated. It seems like it might become an actually mature and thoughtful examination of young adulthood, which I probably don’t need to tell you is something anime virtually never does. Not much else to add – I’ve been waiting for this all week, let’s get to it.

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Kami-sama no Inai Nichiyoubi – Episode 2

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First episode was borderline. Liked the comedy, liked the visual design, disliked a bunch of the mysterious stuff. For some reason I have a good feeling about this show.

Episode 2

5:18 – I kinda like the gravekeepers essentially being computers thing, but once again it’s the loli getting smacked that actually gets my attention. This show has issues

6:19 – “I can never forget!” That’s nice, actually. They tie her identity as a gravekeeper to her keeping the memories of her time in this place. That certainly justifies the job being important to her

9:35 – “The dead should go back to the earth after they die.” The show hasn’t really offered a compelling reason why, though. Obviously it knows this – so far all the dead people have been warm and honorable, and Humpnie’s been setting himself up as an asshole. I wonder where they’ll go with this?

11:20 – “You just don’t want to live anymore. But instead of killing yourself, you want to die for something.” Okay, so it looks like they actually are interested in this value of life stuff. I’m still not a fan of Humpnie being so mustache-twirlingly evil, though

14:22 – These backgrounds [RES ignored duplicate image][1] do a lot of work. Soundtrack’s pretty solid too. It seems like Humpnie (god that name is ridiculous to type… I might just stick with Dark Flame Master) might act dickish to force people towards their own resolve. But his affect is just… I dunno, it might just be the VA hamming it up too much for what this character is supposed to be, or something

16:15 – I like them using DFM’s immortality in kinda silly, kinda practical ways like this cliff-jumping

18:20 – “Being defective isn’t a bad thing.” Looks like we’re reaching the point where he drops his defensive act. I’m all in favor, that particular character arc is pretty tired

20:12 – “He got bored, so he decided to grant people’s wishes in the end.” More stuff about treasuring a limited lifespan, but we still haven’t seen any arguments for this not being a sweet wish, aside from the attached no-children thing

21:40 – “Half-dead fever.” Okay, here’s a hint of a downside. So there’ll probably be an actual threat of the undead, but the thematic point will be that life is precious because it is brief. At least, that’s what the evidence so far seems to point to

And Done

“They cling more desperately to life, and become selfish.” Hm. That’s an interesting idea.

Anyway, this episode didn’t really strongly change my impression of the show, but it does seem like it has some actual ideas, and DFM dropping his sneering antihero act was a very welcome shift. It’s also not overplaying its hand – it’s keeping the fantastical elements of the world sharply grounded in the way they affect the central characters, which is critical for investment in a story like this. I’m definitely still on board.

Hunter x Hunter 2011 – Episode 87

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Management: Late by a week, and this isn’t a show I’m actually covering, but it’s a very good show and this kind of covers a good number of the reasons why.

This show is so damn good. Everything is just so well-written and well-paced and well-directed and blah. It’s close to the only thing that I can watch as pure entertainment, because while everything that’s happening is right there on the surface, it’s also creative and professional and expertly produced. The characters, who all feed off their great visual design to be understandable in a few broad strokes of characterization. The humor, which builds off without defining the characters. The many-strained plotting, at its best in Yorkshin and again now in Chimera Ant, which seems more reminiscent of a tightly written thriller/drama than a shounen. The very understandable yet still creative system of battle, the ever-shifting definition of battle, the… alright, I’ll stop. This show is awesome, and I haven’t talked about it before, so I just wanted to set something down.

 

This episode actually features the most significant step in Gon’s character development we’ve seen yet, which is nice. He’s been repeatedly warned about his pride and headstrong nature becoming a threat to both himself and the people around here – but now, with Kite’s loss fresh in his mind, he’s finally acting on that, and restraining himself. This episode was also damn funny, with street punk’s (yeah, I don’t remember character names pretty much ever) soft side getting me every time, and crazy hair’s knife-shaking kind of lampshading how silly her overall presence has been. I also like how Bisky has learned to rely on how goddamn charming Gon and Killua are in crafting her training schedules – it wouldn’t have worked on a less charitable Hunter, but it’s a nice beat of progression in their relationship.

The Ant side displayed some of the efficient plotting this series excels in, revealing the Hunter organization’s battle strategy and powers in a couple efficient, pretty intimidating beats. The cracks in the assumed unity of the Ants as they embrace their human-imbued independent streaks are doing more and more damage to their organization, with the original ringleaders now scared to even ask Neferpitou for help. Neferpitou is obviously just the best – her character is the clear breakout of this arc, with her whimsical love of violence and boundless curiosity now leading her to become some kind of mad scientist. We also got a breakdown of the ants’ overall organization, as well as both their response and the Hunter organization’s counter-strategy. I really love how a show with powers and setups as wild as this one can always ground its conflicts in reasonable stakes – managing exposition to keep everything grounded while avoiding losing tension is a difficult trick, and this show pulls it off with ease. And then it finishes off with by adding a new variable and next-episode cliffhanger that naturally ratchets the tension of Gon and Killua’s training. Again, if shounen writing and direction were always this good, I’d be in real deep trouble.

Monogatari S2 – Episode 2

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Please keep it classy, Monogatari. I know you gotta do your thing, and I know that in the long run one classless, objectifying episode wouldn’t exactly ruin the purposeful direction you exhibit elsewhere. Sure, it would introduce the strong presence of camera as voyeur and audience proxy, clashing horrifically with the generally character-centered direction and overtly objectifying the characters, devaluing them as people meant to be empathized with. But we could get past that – it’s not like Neko’s panties served much continuous purpose beyond the initial “Hanekawa exposed” metaphor. But seriously. Just… just don’t, Monogatari. Okay?

…let’s get it over with.

Episode 2

1:23 – “Araragi is Araragi.” He is a weird one. It’s nice to get a bit more reflection on his personality from an outsider perspective, considering he himself is honestly a bit more of a cypher than I’d like. Of course, that’s a complaint I’d level against many of the characters in this show, who’re often stylized to a degree that makes them utterly unrelatable or used as mouthpieces for Isin’s own self-indulgent banter. But Araragi… hm. He’s got that strong savior streak, which the show always punishes him for (which is I think a necessary quality in any semi-harem that wants to make actual points). He’s a huge, unabashed lech. He’s a pretty unreliable narrator, since the way he and thus often the camera itself views other characters is dependent on his current mood and relationship with them (one great example of this comes from Neko Black, where early on, when Araragi has just decided his feelings for Hanekawa are sexual-frustration-based lust, the camera is all over Karen, but when he comes back later after realizing Hanekawa’s in trouble and the situation is actually serious, Karen is utterly ignored). But then he’ll also whip out Isin’s crazy plot-resolving monologues, which honestly always come across as unbelievably aware of the subtext and themes in a way he very rarely demonstrates. Honestly, I’d really like for this series to humanize him a bit more – he’s too good at what he does

1:45 – “I’ll talk about that story a little later.” I still very much like how Hanekawa is so much more careful and precise in her narration than Araragi. I haven’t read the books, but I get the feeling this trick works even better here, where the camera is also so actively contributing to the storytelling

5:06 – Alright, that was fine. They just made a derpy joke of it, contrasting Hanekawa’s deadpan monologue with the fanservice. Not much else to it

6:19 – “We’ll have to sleep together. Rest assured. I won’t do anything.” Senjougahara’s having a whole lot of fun with their power balance being upended like this

6:25 – Is that her Araragi impression?  Either way, I like that we’re getting all these weird, ungainly Senjougahara faces now that the camera’s eye isn’t so tied to Araragi, who always sees her as terrifying and beautiful

8:33 – “Ever since I learned that, they’ve been irresistibly tasty.” It’s also funny seeing Senjougahara play against a straight man who isn’t at all intimidated by her – she comes off as much less imposing and mysterious, and more just kind of a weirdo

9:44 – “In that case, why don’t we tell each other the parts of Araragi that we like?” She’s calling your bluff, Senjou…

12:10 – Man, we even get Neko’s perspective, complete with sweet theme music? This season’s spoiling me

15:00 – “An apparition that sides with humans. That’s not that uncommon.” And becoming even less so! I kind of like that overall progression of the series – in Bake, basically all the apparitions are antagonists, aside from Shinobu’s hero turn at the end. In Nise, a human is the antagonist for each of the arcs, and the most prominent apparition is Araragi’s own sister. In Neko, the apparition only acts out Hanekawa’s own desires, and is actually forced by Hanekawa to continue causing mayhem and playing scapegoat. The ambiguity of the apparitions plays nicely with the other ambiguities scattered through the series (truth, family)

15:10 – This sequence is beautiful, by the way. And Shinbou is once again using quick, purposeful jump cuts to relate moments of panic or high tension

15:58 – “That girl saw me. That alone is important.” Hm. Obviously he’s stating his argument, but they emphasized that line a bit more than most, and this whole conversation has fixated on her seeing him being the catalyst, with his own presence being a given. Might be thematically relevant

Oh, forgot you guys were here. This is the first time I’ve done as-airing writeups for a Monogatari instead of just compiling things into an essay afterwards, so as with all Isin crap, I won’t always be offering immediate guesses on everything – normally this stuff builds over time towards a point that isn’t necessarily obvious at first

17:21 – “You won’t drain it all in an instant, right?” Speaking of that truth/appearances thing, Senjougahara’s kind of a nice representative for the series overall that way – her constant need to put up the appearance of strength is a kind of actual strength, since the result is the same. Kind of like the opposite of Hanekawa, who’s filled with improprietous anger but keeps up a completely civil front

It’s also just great seeing these two meet. I wonder if they’d get along better than Senjou and normal Hanekawa?

19:20 – “Were you aware butter and jam are things that exist?” Man, all this just so she can build up to actually advising Hanekawa on where to stay? You are the tsun-est of tsuns, Senjou

21:25 – Is Hanekawa’s lack of flavor preference supposed to reflect her general tendency to just go through the motions of what human beings do, or is Senjou actually just being tsun as all hell?

21:56 – “You accept everything that comes your way.” Hm. Seems to link with the Tiger’s “she saw me, and that’s all that matters” bit. Not enough there yet, though…

And Done

Ah, that’s interesting – reflecting her lack of preference for most elements of life against her alleged love of Araragi. That would make Senjou’s over-aggressiveness here make sense.

Anyway, great episode overall. The dreaded shower scene was basically just a throwaway gag, and most of this was dedicated to Senjougahara’s incredibly mixed feelings towards Hanekawa. Then, to mix up the thrilling back and forth of each of them making breakfast for the other, there was that beautiful and fast-paced exchange with the tiger. I like the way Hanekawa and Neko kind of contrast against Araragi and Shinobu, and I also like Neko actually becoming a full character in her own right (even if a lot of her instincts are reflective of Hanekawa’s true intentions). As always, the fact that very little is actually happening does nothing to prevent the plot from barrelling forward

Feminism and Free!

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Management: I’m a bit more heated here than my usual tone, but it’s an actually important topic, so I figured I should still post it. This was a straight-up argument, so I haven’t changed a word on either side to make sure no-one is misrepresented. It came about in response to my first Free! post, which apparently ruffled some feathers.

Question (sort of):

You didn’t need to tell us what a good little feminist you are (and oh so concerned with shitting on anything that might be remotely aimed at men) 27 times in one post.

Bobduh:

Shit, you got me! I only pretend to be a decent person to look cool on the internet.

Question:

For one thing, forcing yourself against your will to hate something that’s nothing but love and kindness (K-On!) because of some political ideology does not make you a good person – quite the opposite.

But even if we grant that your brand of feminism is what’s good, you’re still obnoxious in how often and aggressively you signal your adherence to it, just as it’s obnoxious when a religious person (who is also a “good person” by their standards) talks constantly about how much they pray and go to church.

Bobduh:

Forcing yourself against your will to hate K-On because of some political ideology

There is no part of this statement that I do not take issue with! First, there is no “force” involved here – my will, personality, and conscience mind are all in agreement that there is something deeply problematic about the archetypes displayed in shows like K-On, Clannad, Sakurasou, and any other number of shows where a female character’s infantilizing helplessness is supposed to be perceived as attractive. I am not going against any natural tendency here – every fiber of my body finds this stuff pretty disturbing, and I actually have repeatedly gotten in arguments on this board, and often just avoided other conversations entirely, because of it. You seem to think I’m just pretending to believe the things I say – I assure you, I’m not trying nearly that hard.

But this doesn’t address K-On itself, which I don’t actually hate – I honestly do believe the creators of that show were intent on making a lighthearted healing-type show, which is apparently what you got out of it. I did not intend to belittle your experience with the show, or their intent – what I take issue with is the specific style of characterization used, which is very prominent in many other less-defensible shows with overt romantic characteristics. I find those helpless  character  archetypes  indicative of an incredibly sexist and dehumanizing style of pandering. My problem is not specifically with K-On – I merely used it as an example because it’s also a KyoAni show and it bears a large number of humorous parallels to Free!, which is why I was referring to Haru as Mio throughout, etc.

Obnoxious in how often and aggressively I signal my adherence to it

I’m sorry my brand of humanism is so offensive to you! My first suggestion would be to possibly not read my posts, since they are all an extension of my beliefs and thus all likely contain the capacity to offend you, but I’d also like to add a little context here. First, and I’ve covered this earlier, but it bears repeating: I’m not filtering my voice through some outside agenda here. I’m cataloging my honest reactions, adding a little humor, and trying to show people my context on media. My first goal in writing these things is to better process my own thoughts, and become a more intelligent consumer of media (thus the questions of sexism and objectification will necessarily crop up here, since they’re such a big question when it comes to this show, and are obviously on my mind) – but in a roundabout way, you’re also right. My second goal is to impart something. Normally that thing is either my way of analyzing stories or my thoughts on media evaluation or my belief that humility and curiosity are the only ways to have a meaningful relationship with art. But my general worldview is also inescapably a part of that.

I’m not a religious person, but I can understand why a religious person would try and tell you how valuable their religion is, if they care about you – according to a great many faiths, if you’re not an adherent, you are eternally damned. That sucks! Why wouldn’t a religious person want to spare people they care about from that? And personally, as a non-religious person who instead believes that data is a real thing and prejudice exists and our world is incredibly goddamn far from a place where genders or races or sexualities or whatever can honestly consider themselves equal in society, government, law, or media, I think that downplaying this stuff, particularly in a setting where people actually read what I have to say, would be pretty inexcusable. I’m not hammering on my “agenda” here, but if my thoughts make anyone think that maybe continuously treating female characters like objects is a shitty thing to do, then I’d also be pretty fucking proud of that. If you find that obnoxious, whatever, read something else – but you can’t tell me it’s not sincere.

But seriously, I’m not actually trying with that – if I were trying, I could be doing much more directly relevant stuff than criticizing anime. This show is pretty dumb on a straight textual level, and so I find that outside of just making jokes, the most interesting angle to analyze it from is its relation to the pervasive sexism in the anime industry. When relevant cultural stuff crops up in other shows, I’ll certainly mention it, but this happens to be a show where that angle is likely the best one for encouraging meaningful discussion. I did not once think while watching this, “now would be a good time to propagate my subversive feminist agenda” – things just came up in my mind and so I wrote them down because I thought someone else might find them interesting. If that doesn’t work for you – well, sorry, no refunds.

Question:

First part: Apologies for being unnecessarily rude earlier – I did find your initial post a bit condescending. Although I can see where you’re coming from about helpless women, I don’t think this is an entirely fair portrayal of K-On! The girls in that show may be goofy and a bit childish in their personal interactions, but they’re also proactive and successful at their goals. They aren’t genuinely helpless and they don’t sit around waiting for men (or anyone else) to save them.

Second part: I think there’s a danger in jumping in too whole-heartedly into any political belief given the high possibility of those beliefs being at least least partially in error. Taking abstract beliefs completely seriously is powerful but dangerous, and can drive things like terrorism just as much as it can drive positive change (not that I think you’re going to bomb anyone). I did think it was a bit weak when you were about to criticize Free! for possibly being sexist against men and then cringed back because you were apparently terrified of being labelled an MRA neckbeard – I think it’s better to own your thoughts instead of fearing “thoughtcrime”.

For what it’s worth I have no comment on Free! itself – I don’t intend to watch it but anyone who does enjoy it is welcome to. I did think it was a bit lame that some people claimed to be watching it in an attempt to stick it to /a/ somehow – just watch what you want to watch and don’t worry about what some anon said about it.

Anyway, thanks for being reasonable when I started out being a bit snarky.

Bobduh:

Abstract beliefs

The thing is, the only real “beliefs” I’m proposing here are that all people deserve equal treatment, that various societal and systemic forces trend towards sexism, and that this extends to media as well. And none of those “beliefs” are really debatable – there’s endless academic evidence for it, and even a cursory examination of anime at large reveals the general tendency to objectify and infantilize female characters. I agree that unsupported beliefs are dangerous, but I think what you’re proposing here is equally dangerous – the idea that all viewpoints are created equal. They aren’t – there’s only one reality, and when all the evidence supports the idea that women are not given fair representation in media, the viewpoint in support of changing that becomes kinda self-evident.

Terrified at being labeled an MRA neckbeard

I was actually just making a joke there, and am not particularly worried about being labeled an MRA or whatever. I don’t deny that men can also be objectified in media (I mean, look at this show), but I think the relative objectification/agency ratio is so skewed towards male fantasies that raising a show like this as a counterpoint to sexism at large is pretty laughable. That was pretty much what I was trying to say with my joke: that Free!’s existence as a show that objectifies men does not excuse an entire culture of sexism in the other direction, farcically playing off the general tendency to use single isolated examples in order to “prove feminism wrong.”

Thanks for the apology, by the way. I try to stay as reasonable as possible, since we can’t really learn anything from each other if we’re just throwing barbs.